SOLVED Upgraded video... PC's performance still sucks

[Core]

Something's rotten in the state of Denmark. If you can help me figure this out, you'll have my most sincere gratitude forever, or at least until such time as I see fit.

My wife's ancient piece of...uhhh her computer continues to have difficulty running Windows to my satisfaction. I bought a cheap video card for the machine in the hope that it would allow fluent Aero experience. I reinstalled 7, but the performance was really unsatisfactory, so just to see how much of a difference it would make, I put XP back on it. The performance is okay, with all the eye candy turned off, but weird things still happen. It's a P4 @ 2.6GHz with 2 gigs of RAM and a GeForce 6200 256MB. One would think that XP would just fly on it, and in my opinion 7 should run decently as well. Not so.

Mostly you notice something wrong when you close a Windows Explorer window and there's a small delay between the border of the window disappearing and the contents disappearing. One of the reasons I reformatted and reinstalled everything was because in her previous XP installation, suddenly it started doing this thing where you move your mouse across Programs menu and instead of the title of an application you see the desktop that's underneath, or you see a black bar.

I'm really tired of dealing with this machine and just want it to work so she can use it and I don't have to mess with it all the time. At this point I have three suspects:
1. Bad RAM (running Memtest86+ as we speak)
2. Problem with hard drives/controllers (started getting a "no 80 conductor cable installed" error out of the blue during post, but all drives/partitions work) -- UPDATE: Replaced 40-conductor cable with 80; error doesn't appear anymore
3. Faulty motherboard.

I've always felt that the memory wasn't quite as "speedy" as you'd expect from a 2 GB stick, but I know very little about RAM. If I post the motherboard info and the memory stick specs is there someone who can tell me if they're really compatible? Because I'm starting to have my doubts.

At this point a new motherboard is just out of the reach of our budget, so I really want to exhaust all other possibilities first...

Any and all suggestions are wholeheartedly welcome.

----

Well, I looked online as to the difference in how the 40-conductor cable and the 80 look, and it's clear to me that the IDE cable to the DVD burner and the system drive is a 40-conductor, while the cable to the storage drives is an 80. Could this be the culprit? Could it really make that big of a difference?

 

[yodap]

I would try to eliminate the memory first. After Memtest, try reseating the stick(s) in another slot. Is it 1 2gig stick? Do you have any other known good sticks you could try. It's not rambus or another type of ram that needs to be installed in pairs is it?
I would think XP could run well on 1gig.

Hard drive diagnostics from hdd manufacturer?

If it's the mobo then where do you draw the line?

Keep us posted.

 

[Core]

Memtest didn't find any problems.

Yes, it's a 2 gig stick. Here's its info: 2GB 240p PC2-5300 CL5 16c 128x8 DDR2-667 DIMM RFB Taiwan, Elpida, APM, GU342G0AJEPR692C4CE.

To be honest I don't really know how to tell if a stick is the kind that has to be installed in pairs. I do have another stick of the same kind (also 2 GB); the reason it's not in is because I remember the machine wouldn't boot if I had both in so I took one out (altho mobo supposedly does support 4 GB total).

I replaced the 40-conductor cable with an 80. No more complaint about a missing 80-conductor during boot, but HDTune reported a bunch of CRC errors on the drive after I switched cables. I ran a zero-fill format and used WD's own diag tool which found no problems.

I also have a couple of 512 MB sticks... Is it better to run two 512 MB sticks than one 2 GB stick, in other words losing 1 GB in RAM but being able to fill both slots?

----------------------

Well, I put both sticks in, but the system only sees 2.3 GB...

 

[yodap]

That kind of ram does not need to be installed in pairs.

I also have a couple of 512 MB sticks... Is it better to run two 512 MB sticks than one 2 GB stick, in other words losing 1 GB in RAM but being able to fill both slots?

I would give it a try. It may rule out or pin point where the problem lies.

In my P4 that I'm typing on now, I have 2-1gig and 2-256mb fora total of 2512 of ram. This thing runs really well with Win 7 32bit. It's only DDR PC3200.

Memtest has been known to not find anything on first attempts but does on subsequent tries. Do you have the time to run it longer? Overnight maybe?

Starting to look like the MB maybe?

 

[Nibiru2012]

Core - once IDE PATA drives started getting faster in the late '90s around ATA 66 and on up in speed, the switch to an 80-conductor cable was necessary because of the problem of "channel crosstalk" between the conductors in the cable.

So the extra 40 conductors are actually ground conductors to act as a shield between the active conductors.

Back when I used IDE connections and PATA hard drives I always used 80-conductor cables just to avoid any problems. I also noticed that when I used an 80-conductor cable on the CD/DVD burner there was less "coaster burns" too.

Depending on how old the motherboard is in your wife's rig, it may just be "tired" or "worn out" so to speak. What usually goes out first are the capacitors due to aging of the electrolyte fluid in them.

Look real closely at the tops of the capacitors to see if any are bulging or cracked. Look for fluid leaks too.

On this pic, notice the tops of the capacitors are bulging out.

The following is from: www.badcaps.net -

Here are some functionality symptoms and issues your system might display if your capacitors are failing. Please note that these symptoms can occur even if your capacitors are not showing the physical signs demonstrated above. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. Most of the time, there will be physical signs of failure.

​

System Faults:
​

• Motherboard fails to POST.
• Memory Test Fails.
• System randomly and/or constantly reboots itself.
• Fails to fully boot (or even install) Operating System.
• System randomly and frequently freezes.
• Random & frequent 'Blue Screens of Death'
• BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (Either RAID, SCSI, or standard ATA)
• CPU temps abnormally higher than usual under typical or less load.
• *CPU VCORE & other system voltages are erratic or far out of tolerances.
• Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost. You have to completely power down then power back up.)

*CPU VCORE & System voltage issues can also be associated with a faulty power supply. Before you decide your caps are bad, ALWAYS try a known good and high quality power supply.

​

If your capacitors display any of the above symptoms, there's a chance that you've got the plague. The more sporadic and random that the symptoms occur is usually a good sign of bad caps. However, you should double check any and all drivers and other hardware FIRST! Some of these symptoms can easliy be mistaken for other computer problems! Although, if you've already done that and your system is still acting like this, there's a good chance that you may be faced with breaking out the 'ol soldering iron!!​

If the motherboard is over 6-7 years old, it really should be replaced, especially if it's an OEM board from a computer maker like HP, Dell, Gateway, eMachines, Compaq, etc.

 

[clifford_cooley]

To be honest I don't really know how to tell if a stick is the kind that has to be installed in pairs. I do have another stick of the same kind (also 2 GB); the reason it's not in is because I remember the machine wouldn't boot if I had both in so I took one out (altho mobo supposedly does support 4 GB total).

All DDR2 memory can be used in a dual channel configuration. To safe guard the possibility that the memory will be compatible with each other, DDR2 is usually bought in pairs. DDR2 does not require you to run in dual channel mode, a single stick will work fine in a single channel mode.

Take my computer for instance, I ran for a while before I realized I had my memory in the wrong slots in order to take advantage of the dual channel capability.

 

[Nibiru2012]

I'll bet a slab of St. Louis-style ribs it's a bad motherboard.

 

[yodap]

Good call on the swollen caps. Definitely check that out?

 

[AK762]

Why don't you build a cheap Athlon system for Windows 7 and kill XP? An Athlon x2 250 is more than enough for an office system instead of wasting time and effort on obsolete parts.

 

[Nibiru2012]

He's married and the wife has the power of "Yes & No" !

 

[Core]

Why don't you build a cheap Athlon system for Windows 7 and kill XP? An Athlon x2 250 is more than enough for an office system instead of wasting time and effort on obsolete parts.

I'll just respond to this with a photo of the back of my Nissan:

 

[Nibiru2012]

I'll just respond to this with a photo of the back of my Nissan:

:rofl:

That's classic! I used to be married and is THAT the truth or what?!!

Core's wife's reaction to new motherboard and / or build: :girlshit:

Her money is hers and HIS money is hers!

 

[catilley1092]

I'll just respond to this with a photo of the back of my Nissan:

I know that feeling all too well, 22 years of experience at it.

 

[draceena]

I get the same thing but the opposite direction...my money is ours and his money is his. :/

 

[Nibiru2012]

I get the same thing but the opposite direction...my money is ours and his money is his. :/

Hmmm... an enigma wrapped in a paradox!

 

[Core]

Nibiru asked about this in another thread and so I remembered I hadn't updated this. I ended up trying several different memory sticks and running both the POST memory test and memtest86+. After a lot of trial and error I've found that the 2GB in the first slot is the most reliable...I'm not sure what's up, might be that the second slot has problems or that the motherboard in general does. I'm guessing the mobo is less than reliable.

Switching the 40-conductor to an 80 has made a difference. I used HDTune to benchmark the hard drives before and after the switch, and found that the large 250 gig drive is almost twice as fast as the others, if read tests (went from 30 MB/s to 59) are any indication, so it hosts the system now.

I have Win7 humming on it and it's working fine so far. Memory tests have passed. Zero-fill format cleared bad sectors from the hard drive. I'll do another series of diagnostics after I'm done moving all the data back and forth.

The capacitors don't look bloated, but it's a good tip. The board was manufactured in 2008.

I think all in all her machine is nearing the end of its life-cycle. Once I find work again and can afford to incrementally invest in some hardware I'm probably going to build a custom rig for myself and pass on my triple-core to her.

Probably won't be doing anymore folding on her machine, at any rate.

Thank you, everyone, for your info, advice, and input.

 

[Nibiru2012]

The machine being only two years old should have several years of life left in it.

I wish you luck in finding employment, it's tough out there these days.